


sailing us home by the light of the moon

by buddiebuddie



Series: white house AU [8]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Buck and Chris are BESTIES, Kinda Fluffy, M/M, President Evan Buckley, Special Agent Eddie Diaz, White House AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddiebuddie/pseuds/buddiebuddie
Summary: “‘Mr. President,’ Eddie says. ‘You wouldn’t happen to know where my child learned the word ‘asshat,’ would you?’Buck bites his lower lip, inhaling sharply. ‘Nope,’ he shakes his head. ‘Not the faintest idea.’”No one at school believes Christopher knows the president.President Buckley will not stand for that nonsense.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: white house AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677313
Comments: 38
Kudos: 474





	sailing us home by the light of the moon

**Author's Note:**

> set about three years into buck’s presidency and can stand alone.
> 
> this work was the product of a few prompts:  
> from Nocturnal_Fox- “maybe something with Christopher? Like a school visit to the white house and Buck getting out of his way to make it extra special just for him. Obviously Eddie ends like goo on the floor xD”  
> from Gage- “I would love if we could see Buck with Christopher maybe?”  
> from Alone77- “Chris and his class visting the White House and the Oval office. And the class finds out that Chis really know the president.”
> 
> title from orphans by coldplay

During work hours, Eddie’s phone only rings through for three people: Shannon, his Abuela, and Christopher’s school. Today, he’s standing at the door to the president’s study when it does. Buck is the only other one in the room, working at the desk during the minutes he’s not arguing with Eddie about whether or not a hot dog counts as a sandwich. 

Eddie can tell from the vibration pattern that it’s the special tone he set for Christopher’s school. He swears under his breath as he pulls his phone from his pocket, suddenly nervous as his mind jumps to the worst-case scenario. Buck glances up from behind his desk. “Answer it, baby,” he says without hesitation. He knows that if Eddie’s getting a call during the work day, something must be up.

Eddie steps into the adjoining Oval Office, which sits empty as Buck’s using the study. Ten minutes later, he walks back into the study and drops into one of the chairs across from Buck’s desk with a sigh. 

“Everything okay?” Buck asks, concerned. “Is Chris alright?”

“All good,” Eddie replies. “I mean, he was written up for using inappropriate language. But he’s safe.” 

“What?!” Bucks asks incredulously. “Your Christopher? Inappropriate language?” 

“Yep,” Eddie says, running a hand over his face. He leans his head back and heaves a sigh. “God, I feel like the world’s worst dad.”

“What?” Buck replies, as if it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. He stands up from his chair, walking around the desk. He sits on the edge of it, facing Eddie. “Because he cursed at school?” 

Eddie shakes his head. “He got in a fight with some kids at recess today. A fight!” Saying it out loud, he still can’t believe it. The shock hasn’t worn off yet, still as ever-present as it was the moment the principal told him. “In all his nine years, I’ve never once known him to fight. Hell, he won’t even talk back to me or Shannon.”

“Did they tell you what happened?” 

He shakes his head. “Just that it was a disagreement between him and his classmates on the playground.” He groans audibly, running a hand over his face. “Buck, if those kids are picking on him, I swear to God–”

“They would’ve told you if that’s what happened.”

“But what if they don’t know that’s what happened?” Eddie’s head spins, his palms starting to sweat. He can feel himself starting to get worked up. “What if he didn’t tell the principal? What if he’s being bullied and he’s too scared to speak up?” He leans forward in the chair, dropping his head between his knees as he tries to keep the rage bubbling inside him from coming to the surface. 

“Hey,” Buck says, moving to squat in front of Eddie. He takes Eddie’s face in his hands, tilting it up so their eyes meet. “Don’t go there.” Despite wanting nothing more than to land Marine One on the roof of the school and rain a special brand of presidential hellfire on the asses of the kids who upset Christopher, Buck knows he has to be calm, has to be the voice of reason to pull Eddie back from the edge. “When you pick him up later, you ask him. And then we go from there.”

Eddie doesn’t miss the _we_ in there, much like how he doesn’t miss the way Buck’s jaw set immediately, his lips pressing into a straight line at the mention of Christopher potentially being bullied. It makes Eddie feel alive inside, like a million live wires have been cut loose right beneath his skin. His chest squeezes. 

He nods, taking a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right.” 

Buck pulls him up and into a hug. The weight of Buck’s arms around him is all Eddie needs to feel himself coming back down to Earth. Gone is the heavy sinking feeling from a moment before. His touch is grounding, balancing the overwhelming onslaught of emotions as Eddie melts into it. 

“I love you,” Eddie breathes into Buck’s hair.

“To the moon,” comes Buck’s response.

“Mr. President,” Eddie says after a moment, leaning back to meet Buck’s eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to know where my child learned the word “asshat,” would you?” 

Buck bites his lower lip, inhaling sharply. “Nope,” he shakes his head. “Not the faintest idea.” 

“Uh huh,” Eddie says, nodding. “Sure you don’t.” 

“I’m sorry, Eds,” Buck says. Then, after a moment, “Did he at least use it properly?”

“Oh yeah,” a small laugh escapes Eddie’s lips. “And I quote, ‘you’re an asshat, Jake,’ as per the principal.”

“That’s my boy,” Buck grins, pumping his fist in the air. And there he goes again. _My boy._

“You know we don’t language like that,” Eddie says, pulling out of the school parking lot. “What happened, Chris?”

“Jake called me a liar,” Christopher says. 

A burst of anger rushes through Eddie’s veins, the urge to protect his kid overwhelming every other sense. “Why would he do that? I thought you two were friends.” 

“He asked how I did the bubble letters on my poster for my book report and when I told him Bucky helped me he didn’t believe me.” 

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Eddie meets Christopher’s eyes in the rearview mirror. What he wants to say is that kids are assholes, and this Jake character sounds like the king of them. Instead he says, “Sometimes, friends make bad choices and they say things they don’t mean.”

“He asked if I meant Buck the president and when I said yes, he said I was a big fat liar and then he told everyone not to play with me.” Christopher looks down at his lap, and Eddie’s face falls. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm the anger that’s buzzing beneath his skin. 

He never censored Christopher from talking about “his friend Bucky,” despite knowing that eventually, his friends would wise up and start asking questions that Chris probably wouldn’t have all the answers to. He always figured they’d cross that bridge when they got to it. He just wasn’t expecting it to be today, and he wasn’t expecting kids to be such dicks about it. 

“Hey,” Eddie says, pulling up to their building. He parks the car on the street out front, turning to face his son. “I have an idea.” 

A few minutes later, they’re on the couch together when Buck texts Eddie back that he’s free. Buck picks up on the third ring. “My two favorite boys,” he says as the Diaz boys’ faces come onto his phone screen.

Eddie fails to keep the goofy smile off his face at Buck’s words. “Chris, I heard your classmates are giving you a hard time?” Buck asks. 

Christopher nods. He repeats what he told Eddie in the car just a few minutes before. 

“Well,” Buck says. “I’m sorry that happened, bud. But don’t ever think you can’t talk about me. God knows I brag about hanging out with you to anyone who’ll listen.”

“Really?” Christopher asks. 

Buck nods emphatically. “Really, really. Just ask your dad.” Christopher looks over at Eddie, who also nods. It’s true. There have been several car rides in which Eddie’s sat there trying to keep his heart from swelling right out of his chest once Buck whips out his phone to show Maddie and the other agents pictures of Chris. 

“And listen, buddy,” Buck continues. “If people don’t believe you that’s fine. You, me, and your dad know what’s up. And that’s the most important thing, right?”

Chris nods in agreement. “Right.”

“It’s like our own little club,” Buck grins. “Members only.” 

“Kind of like a family,” Christopher says. 

And if Eddie thought his heart was going to burst at that, he has another thing coming when Buck nods without hesitation and says, “Exactly like a family.” 

“And Chris,” Buck adds, leaning in close to the phone. “If you ask me, Jake sounds like an asshat.” 

_Three weeks later_

“And this is the Oval Office,” the White House tour guide announces, stepping into the office and motioning for the class to join her. The kids file inside, looking around with wide eyes. 

“The Oval Office has been around since 1909, and is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Presidency,” she continues. “You’ll notice that there are Secret Service agents at the doors.” The class looks over to where Chim and Hen are standing beside the open doors through which they just came. The agents wave, which is enthusiastically returned by the two dozen nine-year olds standing on the oval-shaped carpet. 

“The Oval Office is a ceremonial office,” the tour guide says. “It’s used for important meetings, press conferences, and bill signings. But President Buckley actually does most of his work each day in the private study on the other side of those doors,” she says, pointing across the room at the entrance to the adjoining study. 

Just then, Buck steps out of said study, Eddie and Bobby two paces behind him. “Someone say my name?” he asks cheerily. The class falls silent, in awe of the president standing only a few feet away. 

“Chris!” Buck calls out, breaking into a huge smile. Of course, he knew Christopher’s class was coming today. He was the one who arranged for it to happen after all. After hearing about the kids giving him trouble at school, he had one of his aides call Christopher’s school and inform them that their third grade class had won a free tour of the White House, complete with a special tour of the Oval Office. There was no mention to the school of Buck’s presence, but he’d wanted it to be a surprise, anyway. 

And a surprise, it is. At the sight of Buck and his dad, Christopher breaks into a smile so big, Eddie thinks it might fall right off his face. Buck crosses the room just as Chris manages to break out of the crowd of his classmates. He gives Christopher a high five before wrapping him in a hug. “Boys and girls, did you know that Christopher’s dad is one of my Secret Service agents?” Buck says, addressing the group of kids. “He keeps me safe inside the White House and when I leave.”

Eddie nods, holding a hand up by way of a wave. He doesn’t miss the way that kid Jake’s face twists up in confusion as all the pieces come together in his mind. Eddie wonders if he’s going to hell for getting a kick out of it. 

“That’s how I know your friend Christopher,” Buck continues. Chris is absolutely beaming. “Did you know I first met Chris when he was four years old? We’ve been buds ever since, right Chris?” 

Christopher nods. The kids erupt in a flurry of questions aimed at Buck, Eddie, and Chris. “Who wants a picture behind the Resolute Desk?” Buck asks, raising his voice over the chatter of excited children. Every hand in the room shoots up, even the teachers and the White House staffer leading the tour. 

Each kid takes a turn sitting in Buck’s chair as one of the teachers snaps pictures. Buck stands behind the desk, Bobby and Eddie to either side with their hands folded in front of their hips and their most serious faces. The kids are eating it up. They’re almost at the end of the line of kids when Eddie notices one of the pictures on the desk. He’d know that picture anywhere— he had it framed himself and put it on his nightstand. It’s the first thing he sees each morning and the last thing he sees before he goes to sleep.

He remembers the moment it was taken– they were at Camp David for the weekend and it was perfect. Buck had the idea for a family weekend with his core four agents. Bobby brought Athena and their kids, Hen brought Karen and Denny. Eddie brought Christopher and Maddie and Chim showed up hand-in-hand. 

The sun had long-since gone down, but the air was still warm and fragrant, one of those perfect late-July nights. Bobby had shown the kids how to make a fire, and Buck made a big production of teaching them how to get the perfect amount of color on a marshmallow. “It’s a life-long skill, Eddie,” he had said when Eddie raised an eyebrow mid-way through his marshmallow soliloquy. “It’s one I take very seriously. Kids, watch and learn. I’m trusting you to pass this on to future generations,” he had said. 

When it was Christopher’s turn to give it a try, Buck helped him hold the whittled stick over the flame. He must’ve cracked a joke that Eddie couldn’t hear, because Christopher looked up at him, suddenly breaking into a huge grin as Buck made some goofy face. Eddie couldn’t keep the smile off his own face, watching the two of them from the other side of the fire with nothing shy of adoration in his eyes. Maddie had been the one to capture the moment, texting the picture to Eddie immediately, a single read heart attached to the message. 

And here it is, all five-by-seven inches of it, sitting in a navy blue frame on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Buck is making a silly face, Christopher beaming up at him. The roaring flames of the fire cast them in a warm orange glow, the night dark around them. It’s the picture of pure, unadulterated joy between two people whose love knows no bounds. Eddie’s breath catches in his throat and he thinks he needs a minute. 

After everyone has had their turn for a picture with Buck and the historical presidential desk, Bobby joins the tour to talk about all that the Secret Service does. The doors to the Oval close, leaving Buck and Eddie standing behind the desk in silence. Eddie takes three steps to his right, stepping into the camera blind spot. Buck follows him without question, a smile creeping onto his face as he says, “Did you see how excited he was?!” 

Eddie nods, grinning. “This was definitely the best day of his life. Thank you.” 

“I’d do it a hundred times over if it meant I could see him that happy again,” Buck replies. “You too. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that.”

Eddie takes a long, deep breath. “I really thought I couldn’t love you more,” he whispers, hands resting on Buck’s hips. “I was so,” he presses a kiss to Buck’s lips. “So,” another kiss. “So wrong.” He kisses him again, this time long and slow. 

“I want this forever,” Buck says, so quietly Eddie almost misses it. “You. Chris. Us. I want it forever and ever.” 

“Good,” Eddie replies. “We’re on the same page, then.”

“Yeah?” Buck asks, running a hand through Eddie’s hair. 

Eddie nods. He’s never been more sure of anything. “Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i hope you all are safe and healthy :) 
> 
> i’m always open to for prompts for this verse, so if you have one, let me know!


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